The exciting Normandy Village Shop & Cafe venture is now well under way and we have been making steady progress in many and varied areas of the business. As a Management Committee we are committed and passionate both in terms of how we involve our community throughout our journey together to make sure we’re taking the best approach to opening our shop and cafe.
We have created this website to keep you fully up-to-date with our aspirations, developments and progress, aiming to regularly share how we are evolving across all areas, such as: how you can contribute and become involved, our vision for how the shop will look, the wide ranging and delicious offerings both in-store and in the cafe, our plans for funding the build and the exciting events we are planning over the coming months.
We are eager for everyone in the community to become involved when you are able, with the many activitie and tasks that will benefit from the treasure trove of experience and skills that we know are out there and we will be inviting you to volunteer your services to join our growing and progressive team.
Every activity we undertake will be aligned with our vision and focus; that is – to build our very own village shop and cafe that will be owned by our community, managed by our community for the benefit of our community.
We invite you to explore our site, meet the team, get in touch, ask questions, and become part of our very own, exciting journey.
Community share offer exceeds target On Wednesday 14th April at 5pm, our community share offer on Crowdfunder closed with over £90,000 having been invested by residents, friends, families of, and visitors to, Normandy. This is a fantastic achievement! We knew that there is support for our venture across the whole community, but we are overwhelmed…
We wanted to create a buzz around the village and I think we’ve definitely got people talking and started to revive our community spirit. The shop and cafe Team have invited a Fishmonger and Baker to set up every Friday to sell their delicious produce. Our aim was to bring some products to the village…
Inside the Shop and Cafe – Work Continues Hopefully everyone is keeping safe during this unsettling time. The Shop and Cafe project is continuing to move forward at a fair speed even during this lockdown. We hope the our project is giving some hope for 2021 and to spread some positivity we would like to…
Great news! You will shortly be able to invest … … in our very own Community Shop and Cafe. You will have seen the publicity around the village, on social media and in the Villager. We now have a page devoted to information about the shop and cafe, the share issue and how you can…
Pop up Cake Sale Saturday 12 December We have volunteers baking some delicious cakes and invite you to pop along to see us at the Cricket Club from 1030 to 1230 on Saturday 12 December. There may be some other items for sale, we are looking at displaying some Christmas Trees that you can prepay…
Fantastic news – our plans are approved We’ve just received some fantastic news, that the plans we submitted to Guildford Borough Council have been approved! This is a massive step forward for the project as it means we can now concentrate on finalising the detailed planning of requirements and identifying suppliers for the build. We…
The Normandy Community Shop & Cafe will be purpose-built, owned by our community, managed by our community, for the benefit of our community. It will be a fresh, attractive, and environmentally friendly focal point for the village.
Our aim is to sell local produce alongside everyday items to cater for household day to day needs and the odd treat! As well as providing a community meeting place, the shop and cafe will welcome and encourage other visitors to the village, who typically include running and walking groups, cyclists and dog walkers.
Community shops differ from normal retail shops in that they are owned by the community, run by the community and for the benefit of the community. That means that, rather than aiming to make profit for a retail organisation, they run to keep the store and cafe open and to pass on any additional profit to support other projects for the community. So, when you invest in a community shop, and use the shop and cafe, you are not only keeping the business going but you’re helping yourselves and your neighbours in supporting valuable local facilities.
As with many community shops and pubs, we are members of the Plunkett Foundation, who have been working with rural communities since 1919, and who have helped in establishing many of the community shops that exist today in the UK.
You can find out more about them on the Plunkett Foundation website www.plunkett.com
We have visited many shops and take our ideas to help develop our plans from many. Here are a couple of well established shops in Surrey.
